Toward justice in health care

The demands of equity and efficiency require a program of universal health insurance in the United States through which all workers will be provided by their employers with health insurance for themselves and their dependents, unemployment will no longer result in the loss of health insurance protection, and federal standards for Medicaid eligibility will be instituted. Issues raised by the assessment of insurance coverage and establishment of uniform standards are discussed within the context of the ethical foundations of medical necessity, schemes for sharing the burden of cost, and the conflict between technological advances and the limitation of resources. Cost containment measures now most prominently on the public agenda represent an unfortunate trend toward exacerbating inequalities by making the patient the main cost container. Moral priority must be given to remedying the patterns of inequality that characterize the American health care system.